The J and K Squads left Ireland together on the 2nd of September and arrived in Romania late at night and then had an 11-hour bus ride to our location. However, upon arriving at said location we found out that we (Teams Triumph and Fuel) were on the wrong bus! How did that happen?! We had people checking, double checking, and triple checking to make sure and we still messed up. Our contact asked us how flexible we were: funny. We really had no choice but to be flexible, knowing that God is in control of every situation. We are loving our location and embraced it from the beginning and we’re excited to see just why God wanted us here in Arcalia. (although we may not find out until heaven!)
It is a beautiful little town and the family Team Triumph is staying with is amazing. They have 7 kids and live on a farm, so that has been fun for me. We get homemade bread everyday and fresh milk too! The food is also amazing and I’ve been able to help with a little baking. 🙂 The teams here are helping with a new church plant and doing a lot of kids ministry. Some of us girls may also try to start a women’s Bible study for the last 2 weeks we’ll be here. Sunday’s church service went well and I gave my testimony of how I ended up on the World Race. It was all right even though there were way more people than I expected because our contact brought 3 WR teams with him to the service. (There are Racers from January, June and August in Romania all at the same time. A couple teams from August are in Moldova.)
Next week we’re having a revival so there will be more WR teams here and a lot of people from different villages. Preaching and giving testimonies is going to become a norm, so I’m trying to get used to it. 🙂 I also just found out that I may have the opportunity to buy a “cheap” violin next week, so we’ll see…
The following is a short run-down of our days so far here in Arcalia:
September 2 – arrive in Arcalia and meet our host family. Hang out and get used to the place. Go to Team Fuel’s house and meet some of the kids who we’ll be ministering to here.
September 3 – Team Triumph and Fuel meet at our house and brainstorm ministry. Prayer walking, prayer hour, lots of discussion. Afternoon walk to a hillside to pray over the area. We saw a couple horses tied in a field so I went to the one farther back and started petting him and when I went to leave he followed me until his chain stopped him. We also picked apples on the way and these plum-like fruits called Pruna. It’s so fun and weird to just pick fruit to eat while we’re walking. So good, though. Evening was spent with our girls playing Uno, and games they taught us. Sam and Austin also had their hair cut by Brittany. It’s the small things that entertain World Racers. 🙂
September 4 – First day of ministry began with prayer and prayer walking. We then went to Team Fuel’s house after lunch and played football (soccer) with all the little kids in the neighborhood. Evening was spent with all the girls hanging out and talking and playing games.
September 5 – Second day of ministry and working together. I was informed by three of my teammates after prayer time that they felt 
that I was supposed to give my testimony at church on Sunday. I really didn’t feel strongly either way, so I just took it as a word from the Lord and began preparing; because of that I didn’t go with the others for football in the afternoon. After supper we went over to Team Fuel’s house for a bonfire and I got to hang out with a lot of the kids then.
September 6 – kids service at 11 am, and church service at 2 pm. It was so good to see the Romanian men preach and teach alongside our American guys. Our “dad” Ilia also shared a word of encouragement. We then went for a walk in the park with Team Fuel’s “mom” Gabby who also serves as our translator. We are getting ready to go to town tomorrow, where I am planning to post this blog so you can read it…
Romania is so beautiful and I am just loving this whole trip. We have a big conference at the end of the month with all the current Racers and some former ones. It will be 3 intense days of teaching and more preparation for what we will be doing in the future on the World Race. Please keep all of us Racers in your prayers as well. Thank you so much!
